


If you're good enough...

by Kenworthington



Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Canon, Stress, Training
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:13:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 18,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23911366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kenworthington/pseuds/Kenworthington
Summary: With space rescues on the up, Scott is stretched to his limits to keep up working both Thunderbird 1 & 3. When the stress comes to a head, an unexpected solution may just be the answer to their problems.
Comments: 36
Kudos: 40





	1. Mounting Challenges

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic ever but I have a couple of stories rattling around my head and thought I'd try put them out there. I can't vouch for the quality of writing though XD Enjoy

Scott groaned in annoyance as the morning sun lit up his face. Even through closed eyes, the light seemed harsh. He really needed to stop waking like this.

  
“Rise and shine, young man” beamed Grandma Tracy, caring little for her grandson’s sleepy stupor.

  
“Do you have to keep waking me like that? It’s not like you need to open the shades this early.” Scott bemoaned.

  
Grandma Tracy smirked “It’s nearly 9 and you know full well they open themselves when enough people walk through. Besides, if you slept in your bed rather than slumping on the couch then you wouldn’t have to deal with it.” Her levity permeating her stern tone as she made for the kitchen.

  
“That’s what you said last time.” Scott mumbled to himself, pulling the blanket off himself, throwing his legs over the side of the couch and rubbing his temple, allowing his eyes to slip closed for relief from the penetrating glare of the sun as he roused himself for the day ahead. He stayed that way for a few minutes until the sweet aroma of coffee wafted towards his nose. Slowly, Scott opened his eyes and raised his head to the mug of liquid life being offered to him.

  
“Busy night?” enquired Alan in his unique blend of cheery and concern when it came to his brothers and international rescue.

  
Scott started slightly before shrugging, thinking best not to stoke any concern his youngest brother may have. “It’s not Grandma’s is it?” nodding towards the mug he had taken from Alan’s hand.  
“Nah, I wouldn’t do that to you” Alan chuckled, “How do you mess up coffee anyway?”

  
A slight smile made its way to Scott’s mouth as he lifted his mug to his lips. A contented sigh revealing his approval of the beverage. They both sat there for several minutes, enjoying the quiet calm of the morning in each other’s company.  
“When did you get so good at sneaking up on people anywaaay?” Scott offered as a yawn escaped him.

  
“Let’s just call it one of the many skills of being the youngest brother” Alan remarked, crossing his legs and putting his hands behind his head.

  
“Yeah, skills that I taught him” declared Gordon confidently as he wandered over, ruffling Alan’s hair as he passed by. Alan swatted Gordon’s hand away and Scott shook his head at the exchange, turning his attention back to his dwindling coffee.  
“Anyway, Happy Birthday little bro!” Gordon exclaimed, pulling Alan into a hug and lifting him clean off the ground.

  
“Thanks” Alan returned as he squirmed out of Gordon’s grasp.

  
Next to them, Scott’s head snapped back towards his two youngest brothers. He stared wide eyed like a deer caught in the headlights (not that a car could crash into a deer anymore.) It could not be Alan’s birthday already. John had reminded him about it but it was weeks away, he still had ages to prepare for it. He wasn’t quite sure what day it was actually; they’ve just been so busy, it was hard to keep everything straight in his head.

  
Gordon clocked onto Scott’s distress and decided to, well, be Gordon.  
“Scott, did you forget it was Alan’s birthday!” he said in an exaggerated shocked voice. “Your own brother, that is just terrible. I’m not sure I could live with myself”

  
Alan took pity on his brother’s… was that distress? He wasn’t’ sure. “Gordon, stop it, it’s alright Scott, I know you guys have been super busy recently.”  
Scott continued to stare blankly, and his silence began to grow uncomfortable. His mind scrambled to produce some response.

  
“I’m…er…gonna go get another coffee.” His sheepish expression not lost on either brother present as he skulked off towards the kitchen.

  
“Awww come on Alan, you’re going soft, what about everything I taught you?” moaned Gordon. Alan cocked an eyebrow at this. “What happened to the united front, the legend of the terrible two…”  
Gordon continued to wax lyrical about their past mischiefs like it was some noble cause to mess with their older brothers. Alan just smiled and shook his head at Gordon’s grandiose speech as they too made for the kitchen.

Scott sat at the kitchen table reading though some recent mission reports while giving a slice of toast a few half hearted bites. Alan and Gordon sat across on the stools at the kitchen counter, talking some of their usual nonsense while chowing down on a plate of waffles Scott had offered up with a weak apology to Alan. It was a pretty pathetic attempt, but Alan seemed to appreciate it. Virgil sauntered down the stairs to the kitchen with gift in hand.

  
“Happy Birthday Alan!” he declared, giving him the gift while swiping a waffle from the pile as he made for the coffee machine. Gordon cut a glance towards Scott at that comment who looked visibly tense but didn’t look up from his reports.

  
“Aww, Virgil you didn’t have to” Alan said while tearing into the present none the less.

  
“Well it’s not every day your man turns 14” Virgil countered waiting on Alan’s reaction.

  
Alan removed the last wrapping to reveal a red and black flannel shirt, much the same as the one Virgil wore. Gordon stifled a laugh next to him.

  
“Oh…wow…thanks Virgil.” Alan struggled to get out.

  
“Good huh? Now you can look more like your idol.” Virgil stated, clearly pleased with himself.

  
“Better than dressing like Gordon I guess” Alan said quietly.

  
“Hey, I heard that!” Gordon exclaimed reaching for Alan who immediately grappled back.

  
“So…any plans for the big day” asked Virgil, ignoring the tussle between the youngest brothers, seemingly thinking it normal. It wasn’t like he couldn’t break it up if he wanted.

  
Alan continued to struggle with Gordon as he began, “Well actually…urgh…I thought tha…that we could…”

  
“International Rescue, we have a situation. Oh, and happy birthday Alan” announced John as his hologram appeared in the room.

  
Not missing a beat, Gordon piped up, “Even John remembered” smirking at Scott who shot him a glare.

  
“Go ahead John” Scott said very deliberately, tearing his gaze from Gordon’s smug expression.

  
“We just got two calls in. GDF report a supply ship heading for the new space hub transit terminal is in trouble. It’s been hit by some asteroid or debris and is venting atmosphere fast. Worse is the venting gas has sent the ship into a huge spin, pilot isn’t responding to hails.”

  
“F.A.B John, I’ll head down to Thunderbird Three” announced Scott as he rushed out the kitchen to gear up.

  
“Virgil, Gordon, some minor seismic activity has caused a roof collapse in the channel tunnel. A passenger train has collided with the debris from the collapse. Reports are also saying there is a slow leak into the tunnel from the channel itself. We need to evac the passengers and have Thunderbird 4 seal up the breach from the other side before it becomes a bigger problem.”

  
“Can do John, we’re on our way, any chance to take 4 for a spin.” Gordon proclaimed as John’s hologram flickered off.

  
“Speed it up Gordon or I’ll scratch your little sub.” Virgil taunted as he marched out the kitchen with Gordon soon following after.

  
“You wouldn’t dare. Later Alan…” shouted Gordon as he disappeared up the stairs, the bickering between Virgil and Gordon growing quiet as they moved away from Alan.

  
Alan looked forlornly in the direction his brothers had disappeared off to.

  
“Yeah…later.” He mumbled to no one. Turning back to the plate of waffles, he no longer felt hungry. He sat staring into the middle distance until he heard the familiar roar of engines as 2 and 3 launched on their missions.

  
“Guess it’s one of those days…again.”


	2. Wearing Thin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starting to feel bad for Scott now...

Scott slumped down onto the sofa after finally getting respite to rest after the days various calamities. His nemesis from the morning had dipped below the horizon, the ocean lapped gently against the white beaches and the glorious azure sky was now quickly darkening to royal blue. The island was the picture of tranquillity. Too bad he was too exhausted to appreciate it.

Scott was stretching his weary body when the dreaded beep sounded, and John’s floating form bathed the room in blue.

“Hey Scott” John began nonchalantly.

“Oh, not another one John, this is the first time I’ve sat in a seat without rockets attached since breakfast. How do people keep getting into trouble? Its none stop!” Scott bemoaned.

John was initially taken aback by the outburst. He had rarely seen anything but the cool and calm commander that Scott gave off. The intensity must really be getting to him.

“There’s no rescue, I was just checking in to see how you were doing actually.”

Scott paused, considering the query. “What do you mean? I’m fine…”

John raised a brow, Scott’s statement doing little to quell his concern.

Scott, feeling his brothers gaze, slumped down on the couch defeated.

“I’m just tired John, there’s so much back and forth from Thunderbird 1 to Thunderbird 3. Wears a man down… What happened John? There used to be hardly any call to launch 3, and half of those were for supply or maintenance runs up to you. If Brains hadn’t had installed that space elevator a couple years back we wouldn’t be able to keep up.”

John considered Scott’s comments. Space rescues were at an all time high, the frequency of travel was new to all but it certainly wasn’t going anywhere.

“Well between off world mining increasing, space tourism on the up, scientific ventures and the plans to colonise Mars in the next few years, it’s safe to assume rescues are only going to increase.”

Scott flopped his head onto the back of his seat and stared at the ceiling.

“Thanks John, I feel much better” Scott deadpanned.

“I wasn’t trying to make you feel better, I’m trying to tell you that this can’t go on much longer.”

“Well what do you suggest John” not seeing the options available to them.

“We find a permanent pilot for Thunderbird 3, I was thinking you could contact Captain Taylor, Dad’s old buddy.”

Scott considered the idea, Captain Taylor was a seasoned astronaut, more than capable of piloting 3, in fact he had when international rescue has started out. Not to mention his time with dad meant he was no stranger to the innovative solutions that were so often required to solve a rescue situation.

“I suppose its not the worse idea…” speaking slowly.

“Good because I told him to contact you a few minutes from now, he’s still running that old moon base he and dad knocked up together but it’s due to be decommissioned soon so he might be amenable to the offer.”

Scott gave John an incredulous look “And what was your plan if I hadn’t agreed to this?” Not exactly happy with John going over his head on this one.

“I knew my masterful diplomatic skills would win you over.”

Scott shook his head, deciding not to press John, he must really be tired.

“I guess I’ll wait for his call then, good night John.”

John smiled and gave a curt nod before his hologram diminished. Scott sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, things would only get worse and in their business, they needed their wits about them if they were going to succeed.

Scott considered the conversation to come. It wasn’t instinctive to Scott to ask others for help. He just saw challenges as something to overcome with hard work and effort. He decided he’d need a little extra fortitude if he was to get through this. He stood and wondered over to his dad’s desk and sat down to reach for the bottom draw to reveal his dad’s vintage decanter full of old scotch accompanied with glass. He didn’t think anyone else knew about it, there wasn’t any cause to actually open the draws of the desk, it was all on the holo-projector these days. He poured a small drink and supped on it casually, he wasn’t one to drink often though this was perhaps becoming a smidgen more common of late. The warmth from the dark liquid spread through his body and put him at ease for the conversation to come. Just as he finished his last sip, the familiar beeping sounded again.

“Good evening captain” Scott greeted cordially.

“Hey there Steve, just had lunch myself, can’t say I keep track of time very much.”

“ah…it’s Scott sir.”

“yeah, that’s the one, your brother said you needed to talk to me, what can I do you for?”

Scott paused a second at that, how does he say this without sounding desperate, not that he is or anything.

“Well…you see…ever since dad, well you know, we’ve been a man down here and everything was fine but these last few months, the number of space rescues has kept going up and were stretched to the limit. I’m worried we won’t be able to make it to every rescue. We were hoping you might considering re-joining and operating Thunderbird 3.”

Scott sank down in his seat, hating how needy he was sounding but not seeing another way other than denying there was an issue but that was selfish at best.

The captain stared at his friend’s son thinking how best to respond.

“Listen Scott, I’m flattered and all but I’m in my 7th decade now. I don’t think I’m cut out for that kind of work anymore…”

Scott closed his eyes and sighed. He knew there was little point in arguing the matter with the good captain.

“…besides, I’ve got my work cut out maintain this here moon base.”

“I thought it was due to be decommissioned” questioned Scott.

“Not if I have anything to do about it, they’ll have to pull me out of this place themselves! Anyway Scott, I need to get back to work. I’m sure you boys will think of something, you always were a clever bunch. I’ll catch you later.”

“Thanks anyway captain.” Strained Scott before the hologram blinked away and he was left staring at the wall behind. He lowered his head and rested it on the table a moment. Scott had dared to hope for a moment but was now back to square one. He turned his head to the side and eyed the decanter again. It took but a moment before he was pouring another larger glass and returned to the couch to think…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things may get a little tense next chapter...


	3. The Inevitable Snap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *winces in anticipation*

Scott’s eyes opened again to the cruel light of the sun, a battle he would seemingly never get the best of. He let out a groan come yawn as his bleary eyes struggled to focus on the ceiling above. The slightest ache permeated his head. He’d only had two drinks; he really wasn’t one for drinking it seemed. He performed his increasingly common routine of throwing the blanket off, swinging his legs over and hanging his head.

“Good, you’re up.” Chirped John’s hologram appearing unannounced.

Scott recoiled at the appearance, his hand instinctively going to his chest to reassure his startled heart.

“John…don’t do that.” Scott got out before returning to rubbing his weary head.

John couldn’t supress a smile at this. While not one to partake in the sort of extravagant tricks and games that Gordon would partake in, he was still a little brother to Scott, so it was always nice to get one over on him, even if it was a slightly cheap shot.

“How’d it go with Captain Taylor?” John asked hopefully.

“It’s not happening John, says he’s too old and he has a base to look after.” His displeasure evident as he spoke.

A subdued silence fell between them, Scott pulling himself from his slumber and John contemplating the captain’s decision.

“So now what, any ideas?” John offered.

Scott looked up at John’s floating form, “what do you mean?”

“I told you last night Scott, this can’t go on, we need to think of something, maybe we can get someone else in to…” John began.

“There is no one else John!” Scott interrupted, “This isn’t some simple job we are talking about here, all this, it’s a life, they’d need to be here 24/7. No one is gonna do that!” Scott’s tiredness letting slip his anger at the situation.

“Then what, I won’t have you working yourself to death Scott.” John stated, his voice becoming sterner to match Scott’s attitude.

“If I had an answer then all this wouldn’t be a problem would it?” Scott retorted petulantly.

John stopped before he responded and took a moment to compose his thoughts. Nothing would be gained by having a shouting match in spite of his desire to call Scott on his lack of drive to fix the issue. After a moment John sighed at his train of thought.

“Maybe we’ll just have to call off our space rescues, I can’t see another option.”

Scott was taken aback at this statement, the very idea seemed to abandon the very core beliefs of International Rescue, to just abandon people to their fate. He couldn’t believe it was even in John’s thoughts. He rose off the couch, the slight ache in his head protesting at the movement but otherwise not dwindling Scott’s motivation.

“John, how can you say that, we can’t just abandon these people to die!”

“Scott, you’re my brother, all of our brother. You have to think of your own health, for all our sakes.”

“It’s not like I don’t want to solve this John, but we can’t abandon our principles here. I’m not sure if I could live with myself if I let someone die.” Scott reasoned before falling silent.

“Scott, what happened yesterday was not your fault. You did everything you could to save them.” John knew that yesterdays incident would be playing on his mind.

“Yeah, and it wasn’t enough was it. I mean let’s face it John, I’m a pilot not an astronaut. A good astronaut could have docked in that spin and saved them, but I couldn’t. Space is your area.” Scott said mournfully.

“You know I’d be flying 3 if I could be Scott, I’d love to solve this and take over space rescues to help you out but 5 needs to manned near constantly, there’s too many variables going on up here, not to mention we need the coverage if we want to actually rescue people.”

“Well we could find some way to route monitoring to the island. That way we could decommission 5 and you could be down here working 3.” Scott suggested unthinking then realised what he had just said.

Few things in this world could light a fire in John that would make him forego his trademark level headedness. A threat to his brother’s was one, a threat to Thunderbird 5 was another. John’s neutral expression changed to one accelerating towards cold anger.

“What did you say?!” John accused.

“John, I was just thinking out loud, I didn’t mean…” Scott tried.

“How dare you even suggest that! You don’t see me telling you to go dismantle 1 do you? These machines are dad’s legacy, how could you even think of destroying any of them?” the similarities to Scott’s earlier comments not lost on him.

“I’m sorry John, alright?” Scott offered, his tone stern.

John relented slightly, “Well you should be, it’s unthinkable.”

“Right, I’m gonna head down to the sim, see if I can’t at least get better with 3 since I’ll still be flying her for a while yet.”

“What? That’s it? We haven’t solved anything” John questioned.

“What do you want from me John? I’m trying to find solutions and they all keep coming up short. I’m exhausted from constant ops and the whole planet has to rely on me for sub-par space rescues because there isn’t anyone else to help them!” Scott exclaimed.

Seeing little else to say to John on the matter, Scott moved to leave for the simulator. He turned on his heels in an instant and careened straight into an unsuspecting Alan, sending the coffee he carried crashing to the floor, the mug shattering to pieces.

Scott had reached his limit.

“FOR GOD SAKE ALAN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!”

Alan was briefly stunned by the outburst but quickly scrambled to explain himself.

“I…I’m sorry Scott, I was just bringing you your coffee, you sounded like you needed it.”

“Yeah, well, coffee isn’t the answer to every problem Alan!”

Alan shrunk into himself at Scott’s berating, he hadn’t been dressed down like this since dad was around.

“I was just trying to help.” His meek demeanour did nothing to stop Scott’s anger.

“WELL YOU CAN’T, CAN YOU? NO ONE CAN!”

“Scott…” warned John, trying to divert Scott away from his baby brother, seeing his distress but with no success.

“AND STOP SNEAKING UP ON PEOPLE!”

“SCOTT!” John shouted, finally getting his elder brothers’ attention, making him turn again.

“WHAT?” Scott roiled.

The instant Scott turned there was no mistaking the hurried steps as Alan ran from the scene, not wanting to be anyway near this situation, much to the relief of John. Scott turned again but Alan was long gone. The fire of rage was now dying but he still held his steely anger.

“That was uncalled for.” John berated from behind him.

“I’m going to the sim.” Scott stated with finality. Skulking away, leaving the smashed mug and coffee on the floor as John just watched after him. Scott didn’t think it unusual that he didn’t come across anyone on his way down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hard to write Scott acting like this but everyone has their breaking point.


	4. Realization

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmmm, angst or guilt, how about both...

Scott dropped himself into the cockpit of the simulator. Brains had painstakingly modeled every vehicle that international Rescue operated into the sim using every scrap of data he could get his hands on, even FAB 1, much to Parker’s chagrin. Brains mainly used it to analyse how they performed and explore any additional modifications he was toying with in a safe environment.

However, it had been used for Gordon to get up to speed with the various things he’d be using before trying the real thing when he was starting training to be an operative about a year ago. Scott had since used it to hone his skills with Thunderbird 3. Not that it had much effect according to Scott, might as well use a pencil sharpener on a mountain top.

Scott selected the desired program and waited for it to load up. His earlier outburst having subsided and left him feeling empty. He considered his words to Alan and couldn’t help but wince in regret as they echoed through his mind. He was Alan’s guardian, he’d always tried his best for him, probably allowing him to get away with a little more than he should but he was a good kid. He didn’t deserve to get lambasted like that, especially given what happened yesterday.

Scott was startled out of his introspection by the sim beeping its readiness with a demo scenario. Scott shook his head to disperse the thoughts. He could apologies to Alan later. Right now, he had a job to do.

********************************************

Alan found himself out by the pool, but he was anything but relaxed. The morning sun made for the perfect tropical weather to which they were accustomed. But here he was, fully clothed on a sun lounger, hugging his legs close to his chest with his head on his knees, gazing out across the vast ocean.

His thoughts kept going over Scott’s outburst earlier. What had he done wrong, he was just bringing Scott a morning coffee, it was almost a ritual at this point. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew things had been tough of late, Scott’s frequent presence on the couch on mornings was evidence enough of that. But he’d tried, just a small gesture to help him out. He sighed in defeat.

“I guess it wasn’t enough.” He concluded.

He wasn’t sure how long he stayed like that, listening to the distant waves crash repetitively on the beaches. Soon enough, he heard the slow padding of footsteps approach.

“Hey kiddo, how are you doing?” Grandma Tracy’s gravelly voice uttered.

“I’m fine” offered Alan not entirely convincingly.

“Well that was a lousy attempt, you wanna try that again?” sitting on the end of Alan’s sun lounger, her levity doing nothing to hide the motherly concern on her face.

“Scott shouted at me.” Explained Alan, not really sure how else to put it. It wasn’t an argument or a fight, Scott simply shouted at him and he didn’t know why.

“I heard; I’d be surprised if anyone didn’t.” she admitted.

“That bad huh.” Alan grunted, trying his best to stall out any conversation, all the while knowing it was a pointless endeavour when it came to his grandma. If she could make Gordon confess his antics, what chance did he have?

“Alan, tell me you don’t believe what Scott said. You know he’s just over tired. Maybe if he listened to me for once and didn’t keep increasing the Scott shaped dent in the couch, he’d be better rested. You were just in the wrong place when he happened to be as well.”

“I dunno Grandma. I do try to help where I can but there’s not a lot I can do. I’m just left here while they’re out on missions. It’s not like I wouldn’t do more if I could. I’d give anything to be out there helping them. Maybe Scott’s right.”

“Alan Bartlett Tracy, look at me.” She commanded.

Knowing better than to ignore her, he slowly turned his face to meet hers. Her eyes instantly locking with his.

“You’ve barely turned 14. No one is expecting you to be out there saving everyone’s lives. Least of all you’re brothers. We all love you Alan, you have nothing to prove to anyone. When you’re older you’ll get your chance and I know you will be amazing.”

“Thanks Grandma, I just think I need some time alone right now.”

“I understand sweetheart, you better think about what I said though” she said with a warning look as she got up and made for the house again.

Alan supposed he felt a little better but still went on his own trip down to the beach to clear his head.

****************************

Scott grumbled at the screen before him. His fifth attempt on the same mission and he’d barely improved at all. The end screen showing John’s near perfect runs on the sim, like some intentional taunt to make him feel useless. He rubbed his face in frustration, the constant staring doing a number on his eyes.

He powered down the simulator and traipsed back up towards the lounge. He’d never get anywhere trying to brute force the same thing over and over. Besides, the guilt from earlier had taken hold and was weighing heavy on his conscience. He needed to apologise to Alan…and John…and whoever he’d left to clear up the coffee mug.

When he reached the lounge, he found John already floating in place talking to Virgil. He sat down and both brothers took notice and stopped their conversation.

“Scott” John acknowledged curtly.

Scott deflated slightly, guess there was no time like the present.

“John, I’m sorry. I…” He begun

“It’s not me you need to apologise to.” John interrupted.

“I know but I do, the way I was acting earlier, it was…I shouldn’t take out my own frustrations on you or Alan. It’s not your fault.”

“Thank you.” John replied, his veil of animosity lifting in an instant.

“Awww, how sweet.” Virgil begun, Scott turned away at the jeer.

“How were things in the sim?” Virgil continued.

“urgh, hopeless. I try all these different things but I just can’t get a handle on the fine control, It’s nothing like 1, that’s smooth, there’s resistance. It makes sense. 3 is just well…frisky.” Scott concluded.

John smiled at the phrasing. He remembered it well. 3 was tricky to get along with for the uninitiated. He’d never have thought Scott would have such trouble though.

Scott began anew. “and don’t get me started on the scenarios, I can’t get anywhere near your mission ratings for those.” His frustration again showing at his inability to bond with 3.

“What ratings?” John questioned, his brow furrowed.

“You know, the score ratings thing at the end of each scenario, gives a list that tells you who did it and how well they did.”

“Scott, I’ve never even used the simulator…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I appreciate all the kudos and comments, it's nice to have little shots of motivation.


	5. A Spirited Debate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5, now with minimal traipsing ;)

Scott looked up at John, not understanding what he was saying. Why would John lie? It’s perfectly fine to practice on the sim.

“What are you talking about John? You’ve got multiple scores on every scenario for Thunderbird 3. It’s not like it’s a bad thing.” Scott pushed back.

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing but I’m telling you, I’ve never used the simulator. I mean, when could I have, I’m up here on 5 nearly all the time.”

John’s statement left Scott strangely confused, this didn’t make any sense. He’d never really given John’s ratings much thought, he was an astronaut, it stood to reason his scores would be good, but what John said was true, he only left 5 on select occasions, he certainly wouldn’t waste his down time on a sim for a bird he didn’t even fly anymore. John was waving his hands around, clearly sifting through various data and menus before the aforementioned ratings appeared for all of them to see.

“Wow John, impressive stuff.” Virgil offered.

“Virgil, they aren’t mine, I told you.” John responded.

Scott sat in silence trying to make sense of the situation, there must be some way to find out what was going on. A thought then came to him.

“John, is there some sort of log that could tell us when all of these ratings were set.” Scott queried.

“Already on it…let’s see…” John fell silent a moment as his eyes flicked across reams of data.

“Says here the first entry under my name was six months ago and the latest waaaaaaas…yesterday, 13:37.” John concluded, slightly perturbed by all this.

Scott considered this. “Yesterday? But, we were all out on ops. The only people on the island were Grandma, Brains and…” Scott begun but ground to a stop.

“…and Alan.” Virgil finished for him.

Another moment of silence fell between brothers. Scott shook these thoughts from his head.

“No, absolutely not, it couldn’t have been Alan. Look at the scores…and besides, Alan isn’t authorised to use the sim.” Scott stated, trying to logically deny what was being proposed.

“Well the sim didn’t think it was Alan, did it? It thought it was John.” Virgil countered. “John, cross reference the timings with…”

“With the cameras, I know what I’m doing Virgil, I’ve been at this longer than you, surprisingly.” John retorted, a slight smirk making its way to his lips as he flicked through various footage. “AHA!”

A holo appeared of the long corridor outside the simulator. The footage played at triple speed as 13:37 came and went with no movement to be seen other than Brains and Max passing between various rooms around Brains’ lab at the distant end of the corridor.

“I’ll be getting in from my op soon.” Virgil noted but was quickly shushed by Scott, whose vision was locked on the footage.

The footage rolled on until finally John set the footage to normal speed when the door to the simulator cracked open slightly and held in place. Shortly after it opened more and out snook an unsuspecting teenager, his head flicking up and down the corridor, doing his best spy sneaking to remain silent.

“It can’t be…” Scott uttered to himself.

“Hang on, I remember this…” Virgil began before being interrupted by himself on the security footage.

“Hey Alan, what are you doing down here?” Virgil asked.

“Oh, hey Virgil, I was just helping out Brains in his lab, well best I can at least. How about you?” Alan said confidently, seemingly unflustered by the sudden intrusion.

“I was just going to talk to him myself, one of the thrusters on 2 was fluttering slightly, need to go tell him.” Virgil responded.

“Ok, I’m gonna get some lunch, I’ll catch you later I guess.” Was Alans quick response before walking off calmly before Virgil could say more and the holo flickered off.

“That little liar…” Virgil began, still unable to suppress a little smirk at Alan’s antics before pondering, “…six months you say John? So that’s just…”

“Just after Gordon started going out on ops, that’s right.” John finished for him.

“My ears are burning.” Gordon announced as he walked in on his three older brothers. “Oh wow, this looks serious, I swear it wasn’t me.” He joked.

“Gordon, you’re back. Everything good.” John asked.

“One container ship saved, multiple grateful crew, piece of cake. So what’s got everyone so tense, other than Scott’s shouting exhibition earlier.” Gordon responded as he sat, not afraid jump right into the meat grinder.

Scott slumped back on the couch at the comment, a fresh wave of guilt crashing over him just to add to the rest.

Virgil picked up the baton. “Alan has been using the simulator with John’s account and Scott is annoyed he can’t get anywhere near his scores.”

“It’s not about that Virgil, he’s not authorised to use it for a reason, it isn’t one of his games, it’s a serious technical simulator. I don’t understand how he even knew how to operate it to start with. Brains had to show us all how to set it up to start with and I know he wouldn’t have shown Alan.”

The three older brothers glanced at each other as they thought and then all at once they came to a group realisation and slowly turned their collective gaze towards Gordon.

Gordon’s eyes darted between the three of them before he let out a slightly high pitched “What?”

“Gordon…” John began.

Gordon spoke to defend himself all too quickly. “I didn’t do anything!”

“Gordon…” Scott repeated, his tone much more foreboding than John’s.

Seeing no way out, especially since Virgil had placed his arm around his shoulder (it was the classic three brother assault), he relented.

“Ok…when I was doing my training on the sim, I may have let Alan have a couple of goes on the Thunderbird 4 scenarios, but that’s all I did and it was just that one time, I swear. Besides, he wasn’t very good.” Gordon admitted.

They all considered this for a moment before John began.

“This still didn’t explain how he was able to log in as me on the simulator, I don’t even know my own details so how does Alan?”

None of them really had an answer but Gordon had just realised what Virgil had said earlier.

“Hang on a minute, did you say that Scott can’t beat Alan’s scores on the simulator?”

Virgil smiled at this, “I believe the words Scott said were ‘can’t get anywhere near’.”

Gordon let out a light chuckle, “When’s he going for a spin in Thunderbird 3 then?”

Scott just shook his head at Gordon’s comment, scoffing at the notion. He was quickly pulled out of his denial when John spoke again.

“It’s not the worst idea in the world…” John considered.

Scott looked at John in shock again. He must have misheard him.

“John, be serious here.” He dismissed.

“I am, we need someone to pilot 3, and he was always gonna become part of the team eventually.”

Scott had rarely found himself speechless. It wasn’t a very desirable trait for a commander. So to find himself tripping over his words and stuttering a bunch of incoherent babble was a rare sight. He paused to compose himself before finally saying.

“He’s barely 14!”

“I’m not saying he jumps on into 3 and takes her for a trip to Mars, but it makes sense for him to start training now. You know that the need for 3 is only going up. We won’t be able to keep up soon if she doesn’t have a permanent pilot.” John reasoned.

“Not to mention, he’s clearly good at it.” Gordon added.

“There’s a hell of a lot more to this than flying a rocket Gordon. There are maintenance checks, physical conditioning, protocol, keeping calm in tough situations. You can’t expect Alan to do all that.” Finished Scott. Surely, he was making sense here.

“That’s what the training is for Scott.” Virgil retorted.

“Oh Virgil, not you too. You’re all insane. This is Alan we’re talking about.” Complained Scott.

“You let Gordon train up, he was what, 18 months older than Alan is now? It’s not that big a difference.” Virgil continued.

“Gordon is different. He won Olympic Gold at Alan’s age. He’s fitter than all of us and had the mindset, he’s perfectly suited for ops with 4. Plus, we needed a dedicated aquanaut.” Scott argued.

“We need a dedicated astronaut.” Gordon countered.

“C’mon Scott you can’t accuse him of not helping then not give him the chance to.” Said John accusingly.

The comment reinvigorated Scott’s conviction, he was not gonna guilt tripped into agreeing with them.

“That’s not fair, you know I didn’t mean that! Look, I’m Alan’s official guardian, and what I say goes, and I say it’s not happening so that’s that.”

The three brothers relented in their push on Scott and sat back. John was the first to speak after the long pause.

“Well I don’t agree with you but no matter what you decide, you still have to go find Alan and apologise. I don’t think he’d cope with what was said very well from any of us, least of all you.” John pointed out.

“What do you mean, what about me?” Scott questioned.

“Oh please Scott.” Virgil began, “You must know that Alan idolises you.”

“Yeah, half the effort on all the pranks me and Alan used to pull was me stopping Alan from telling you about them.” Gordon remembered fondly.

“What? Alan’s into space, it’s John he takes after.” uttered Scott, not believing what his brothers were telling him.

“It’s not about Planes vs Rockets Scott. Who did Alan always run to when he had nightmares when he was little? Who did he cling to for 8 hours straight when we lost dad?” said Virgil, a hint of sorrow making it into his tone at the bitter memory.

“All of this was years ago guys; Alan doesn’t still think like that.”

Scott’s refusal to admit to what was so clear and obvious was starting to fray John’s nerves. Especially after his refusal about training Alan.

“Come on Scott, where do you think that blanket appears from when you sleep on the couch every night? Who appears with your coffee every morning? Who puts the bottle back when you’ve been at dad’s scotch, so we don’t find out you’ve been drinking!” John’s anger creeping out slightly at the last statement.

Scott went to speak again but was cut off by Virgil following on.

“Face it Scott, you’ve raised Alan nearly as long as dad ever did now. Of course, he looks up to you.”

“We all helped raise him.” Mumbled Scott, failing to refute anything anymore.

“Yeah, we helped out, but you’re the one that did it, and you need to go apologise to him!” finished John.

“ALRIGHT…alright, I’ll go talk to him.” Surrendered Scott, “Just tell me where he is…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone was wondering, this is what I'm using for their rough ages  
> Scott – 25  
> John – 23  
> Virgil – 21  
> Gordon – 16.5  
> Alan – 14  
> I've seen people put Vigil as older than John, don't know why but I'm in charge here so what I say goes, and I say it’s not happening so that’s that :P


	6. The Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Target acquired , I have visual on the feels XD

“What do you mean you can’t find him? I’m not asking you to scan the planet here John, he must be around here somewhere.” Scott moaned, here he was trying to make amends and they can’t even find Alan with the best equipment that money can buy, and Brains can think up.

“I don’t know what to tell you Scott, if he was in the house, I’d be able to find him, and satellite imaging would find him if he was outside.” Responded John as he continued sifting through various screens in front of him.

“I don’t believe this” Scott said as he dropped back down onto the couch, rubbing his face in frustration.

A heavy silence fell on the room as John continued his searching and Scott tried to turn his thoughts away from guilt and annoyance. Eventually, the silence was broken by a long, strained sigh from Gordon before he spoke.

“I know where he’ll be” Gordon began, “There’s footprints on the beach right John?”

“Hang on…yeah, there is.” John answered surprised.

“Where is he Gordon?” pressed Scott.

“It’s this private place we found. We used to go there all the time until I started training. We promised never to tell you guys or the other could burn all their favourite shirts.” Complained Gordon.

“Come on Gordon, we can’t leave Alan hanging like this.” John went on.

“Fine…at the end of the beach there’s this rock outcropping against the cliff, if you wade into the sea a little you can follow it round the side of the cliff and there’s this neat cave tunnel thing that cuts through the corner of the cliff. It’s full of rock pools and all these little fish swimming through channels between them. We used to sit on the edge with our feet hanging in the pools. We’d spend hours drawing in the sand with our toes. Just this peaceful place where we didn’t have to worry about you guys on rescues…”

Gordon was startled out of his melancholy reverie by Virgil’s strong hand finding his shoulder again, giving him a reassuring squeeze to comfort him. Scott stood quickly and made to go hunt down Alan but paused as he was leaving and looked at Gordon’s still form.

“Gordon…” Scott began, he didn’t look up, “I’ll talk to Alan about the shirts.”

Scott knew that Gordon wasn’t sad because of the shirts but he thought it best not to press the issue right now, he supposed Gordon knew this as well and seemed thankful for it as he smiled slightly and slowly nodded his head before saying.

“You might wanna wear shorts if you’re going, the way in is deeper than you think.”

****************************************

Scott made his way down to the beach at a hurried pace. He tried to enjoy the surroundings as best he could, the gentle breeze, the sound of water but he was a brother on a mission. When he emerged into the open, true to Gordon’s word, there was a long trail of footprints leading up the length of the beach, only stopping at the waters edge by the rocks. He assumed this was where he was to wade in.

As Scott trekked up the beach, he started to think what he would say. Obviously, he’d apologise but he owed Alan some explanation and the words that would entail alluded him. He guessed he’d find the words when he got there, he’d have to! When he reached the end of the beach, he saw Alan’s slip ons sitting on one of the tall rocks. He placed his own shoes next to them and made his way into the water.

He held the rocks as he made his way around them, the water making it most of the way up his shins, good job he’d taken Gordon’s advice. It must have reached higher on Alan. Come to think of it, he’d have to ask Gordon how old they were when they found this place. It can’t have been terribly easy for a young Alan to get round. Unsupervised…

As he rounded the last rock, he saw the cave opening and his lost brother. While facing the caves opening and Scott, his head was fixated at the rock pool he sat at. Scott’s heart sank at the sight before him. He was obviously much taller than Alan, but he couldn’t begin to think of the last time he looked so small. Maybe his guilt was clouding his view.

He waded towards the Cave, the constant waves masking the sound of his approach. He paused at the cave entrance considering how to go on, he couldn’t just barge on in. He settled for clearing his throat to grab his attention and then he’d take it from there.

“Ahem…” the sound echoed through the cave.

Alan glanced up at Scott and held his gaze for a moment before return to the pool at his feet.

“Didn’t think Gordon would give this place up.” Alan mumbled sullenly.

“I made him; I was worried about you…we all were.” Scott offered.

“Yeah, well you don’t need to worry about me.”

“Oh yes I do…” Scott countered, concerned this was sounding like another berating, “Can I come in?”

“I feel like you’re going to.” Alan stated.

Scott hated hearing Alan like this. His voice seemed so hollow; it just wasn’t who Alan was. He was always so bright and bubbly, it was infectious when you were around him. Scott stepped up into the cave and sat above the same pool near to Alan.

“Alan, look at me…” he waited for him to do just that. Alan’s head looked heavy as he hauled it up to meet Scott’s eyes.

“I am… truly sorry, believe me, I didn’t mean any of what I said. You didn’t deserve any of it.”

The atmosphere was heavy in the cave, even the waves seemed to have been cowed into silence until Alan spoke…

“It’s just…y-you’ve never shouted at me before; you’ve never been angry at me.” He trailed off.

Scott’s heart broke at the admission, hearing Alan so meek was gut-wrenching to him. He slid around the rock pools edge until he was sat right next to Alan. He put his near arm round Alan’s shoulders.

“Hey, I still haven’t.” he spoke softly, “I was just tired and, how should I say, discussing things with John, you just startled me. It’s no excuse I know but… I want you to know how much I love you; you’ve never been any trouble and I know it’s been tough of late. Just know I appreciate everything that you do to help out, even the stuff you think I don’t know you do.” Scott smirked at the end, using the newfound knowledge he’d learnt from his other brothers.

Alan seemed to lighten slightly at the words and, in spite of himself, tilted his head and rested it on Scott’s shoulder. He didn’t say anything and the two stayed that way a couple minutes. Scott rested his head on Alan’s. He couldn’t remember when he’d last spent time with Alan like this, He’d forgotten how relaxing it was.

Much to his own displeasure, Scott knew that he would have to talk to Alan about the simulator, before he was bombarded by his brothers when he returned home. He wasn’t entirely sure how best to broach the subject. Alluding to it would do little, Alan was obviously trying to keep it secret. He’d have to come right out with it.

“I know about the simulator you know.” Scott’s comment was left to hang there for a time. He expected some feigned innocence or denial. Instead…

“Are you mad?” Alan asked, his eyes not moving from the vast ocean outside the cave entrance.

“I told you, you’ve never made me angry. I just want to know why…well actually I want to know how as well.” Scott corrected.

“I asked Gordon why he had his password as Gordon1 when he logged into the sim when he started training and he said that was the default that Brains had set while making the system before he made me look away as he changed it.” Alan paused a moment.

“Then, a few days after Gordon qualified you all got called out and I wandered down and just sat in the chair…I don’t know why, then it asked me to pick a profile and log in, I’d never seen John use it so I thought I’d try his with what I assumed was his default and it worked. I did a few attempts then left; I didn’t want anyone to find out.” He finished.

“But you kept doing it…why?” Scott returned.

“I don’t know” Alan mumbled.

Scott lifted his head from Alan’s and looked at the boy leaning against him.

“Alan…why do all this?” he pressed.

Alan held his response as Scott looked at him before finally relenting and letting out a large sigh before starting.

“You don’t know what it’s like Scott. All my life I’ve had you guys around. I was literally never alone growing up, there was always one of you there doing something with me. Then one by one, you all went away on rescues and I was just stuck here while you were risking your lives, my brothers. I feel so helpless. When you all go out at the same time, I hate it! I go down to sim to block it out, I can distract myself, feel closer to all you guys.”

“Oh Alan… Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Scott tried to console.

“What good would it do? It’s not like you’d all stop going on rescues. I wouldn’t want you to, that wouldn’t be right.”

Scott didn’t know how to respond, Alan was right of course, no matter what the rescues would continue. But he did have one question about the sim.

“Why Thunderbird 3?” The question sounded stupid, but he suspected there was more to it.

“Isn’t it obvious, I love space, you know that?” Alan replied, slightly perplexed.

“I know but there’s more to this isn’t there. You’re a curious teenager and you’ve been doing this for months. The entire time on the sim has been on Thunderbird 3. You haven’t once tried one of the others besides what you did with Gordon. That doesn’t sound like you.” Scott pushed.

“I…I just wanted to get good at flying 3…” Alan said uncertainly.

“Because…” Scott would not drop this. Another sigh left Alan before he spoke.

“I just thought it made sense, when I do join, it’ll be with 3. I just wanted to make sure I was good at it. I know you think I’m too young, but I thought getting a head start would help when I did start.” Alan finally admitted.

He knew it.

“Alan, there’s more to this than flying a rocket...” He tried to explain.

“I know that” Alan tried but Scott continued regardless.

“…It’s a commitment. Making tough decisions, like choosing who lives and who dies, happens all too often. You need to be able to think and innovate to save people. You push yourself beyond what you can think possible daily. That’s why the training is pass/fail. If you aren’t at the peak of what is possible then you aren’t good enough. It’s brutal…”

Scott breathed in deeply as he stared at the rock pool below him. He let his eyes fall closed and felt his whole-body tense up.

“…so don’t let me down.” He barely whispered.

Alan lifted his head off Scott’s shoulder confused yet hopeful. Scott can’t have said that, he never would.

“What?” was all Alan could get out.

Scott rubbed his hand down his face before answering the vibrating teen.

“Just the training for now, and if your grades slip I swear I’ll…” Scott tried but was cut off as he was assaulted by Alan wrapping himself around his torso and squeezing the air out his lungs as he struggled to keep them both balanced. Painful though it was, he hadn’t the heart to stop him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've used up my chapter buffer now, better get typing


	7. To Train a Tracy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huzzah, I've returned... This was outside my original planned chapters but I thought some connective stuff was needed

It was late afternoon when Scott and Alan were back on the beach and heading back to the house. Scott couldn’t quite believe the transformation in Alan’s attitude in the past hour. He would add little skips as they walked and chuckle slightly at random points. Scott noticed that Alan kept giving him sideways looks, his mouth moving to speak before closing every time he tried.

“What is it Alan?” Scott asked.

Alan looked at him with bright eyes but his uncertainty at his thoughts were written across his face.

“It’s just… I need to…” Alan paused and collected himself, “Look, I know that you think I’m too young and I know I’m probably not helping myself with how I’m acting so I have to ask, are you doing this out of guilt or apology or something?”

Scott considered the question; he could answer quite easily but he didn’t know why Alan would ask it. Did he not want to do this?

“Well, I can’t lie, I do feel guilty and I want to make it up to you, but I don’t think that’s why I asked. I wouldn’t have you training if I didn’t believe in my heart of hearts that you could do it. Why, do you not want to?” Scott returned.

“Oh no, I want this more than anything… I guess… I just didn’t want you to regret it or go back on it.” Alan replied.

“Alan, you need to stop worrying about me. It’s my job to worry. Besides, I know what the trainings like, you need to focus on yourself.”

They continued down the beach a while longer in quiet contemplation at the slightly ominous statement when Alan spoke again.

“So, what did make you ask me then? It can’t have just been the sim ratings.”

“Well, you pay attention enough to know Thunderbird 3 needs a dedicated pilot. When, we found out about the sim, it seemed right that you start the training so we could be ready for the future.” Scott answered, not looking at Alan.

Alan looked at Scott, eyebrow raised with a smug look on his face.

“That does not sound like you at all. What actually happened?”

“Alright, that’s what the other three thought and I completely shut them down and refused.” Scott admitted.

“That’s more like Scott.” Alan chuckled.

“Well I guess that out wonderful brothers care more about my health than they do my sanity, which now I think about it describes you all to a T.” Scott pondered.

“So they all pushed for me to start the training? Would you have asked me otherwise?” Alan pressed.

“They put the idea in my head.” Scott offered, “They made some really good points so I…”

In that moment, Alan gave a knowing smile and burst into a run up the slope to the house. Scott was briefly bemused put then began to chase after him, needing to see what was going on.

****************************************

Virgil and Gordon were still in lounge from earlier. John had departed to focus on monitoring. Gordon sat at their dad’s desk doing a mission report for his excursion in the morning while Virgil entertained himself with one of his creative sessions at the piano. Both were startled from their tasks by the sound of Alan running into the room.

Alan made straight for Gordon at the desk, not missing a beat as he entered, continuing at full speed. Gordon, anticipating some retaliation for his perceived betrayal, immediately tried to reason his way out of his apparent situation.

“Alan, it wasn’t my fault, Scott forced…” Gordon got out before being cut off by Alan wrapping his arms around his chest, lifting him out the chair and clean off the ground for a time, much to his surprise. Gordon tried to speak, but between his dumfounded reaction and Alan’s vice like grip, nothing came out.

Virgil, seeing the scene, rounded the piano.

“What’s all this about?” he questioned.

At Virgil’s voice, Alan released Gordon from his death grip and proceeded to leap at Virgil. He managed to catch Alan with relative ease despite stumbling as the 14-year-old squeezed his arms tight around his neck. He glanced at Gordon who was still so bemused that a simple shrug was all he could offer.

“What’s brought all this on?” Virgil managed.

Alan didn’t respond immediately but soon started.

“Thank you…Thank you!” he muttered into Virgil’s shoulder.

“What?” Virgil asked releasing his grip on Alan only for him to dangle in place anyway.

Scott finally arrived in the lounge at a jog, breathing slightly harder than he cared to admit. He’d have to work on that. Despite all his rescuing, there wasn’t much cause for him to run very often.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Alan continued.

“Errr…Scott…” Gordon queried.

Scott decided to forego the explanation and set about the business of making the required arrangements for Alan.

“Gordon, will you go get your training manuals for Alan?”

Gordon again found himself mute but couldn’t suppress his grin as he took off to his room where said manuals had been stored following his own completion of training.

“What? You mean you agreed?” Virgil asked.

Scott just sighed and nodded.

Virgil smiled as Alan finally loosened his grip and returned his feet to the floor. He ruffled the teens hair before continuing on.

“Well, he can hold his own weight aloft.” He chuckled, “When does he start out?”

“Knowing this one, as soon as he can.” Scott responded.

Virgil glanced down at Alan who looked silently between them, still visibly joyful but doing his best not to show it, despite his recent actions.

“In that case Alan, you better follow me, there’s some things we need to do.” Virgil finished as he began to make his way out the room. Alan looked over to Scott who nodded in Virgil’s direction, sparking him into action, falling into line behind the middle Tracy.

Scott sat on the couch after they’d left, his doubts still whispering evils to him in his head. He felt the light of the hologram bathe him as he raised his head to meet his floating brother.

“For what it’s worth, I think this is the right thing to do.” John encouraged.

Scott breathed slowly; his concern still strong.

“I hope so John… I hope so…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just dispatched one uni coursework, now just the little matter of finishing my dissertation. Yaaaaaaaay


	8. Tough Training

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uni work is hell :(

The whir and beep of the various machines in the medical bay put Alan on edge, he didn’t like it in here. It was unnerving, after all, there wasn’t much call for good news in this room. Virgil made his way back over towards him with his latest gizmo.

“Virgil is this all really necessary. I don’t see the point.” Gesturing to the many paged form being filled out.

“It’s standard procedure Alan. We need a complete medical record of everything we can find out about every operative on the team. If you want to be that, then it’s very necessary…” Alan just grumbled at this.

“…and besides that, lots of this stuff is useful for us to monitor your progress and health while you go through the training. Body mass, heart rate, lung capacity, red blood cell count, hydration…” he was cut off.

“Alright, alright, I get it. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“Well get used to that feeling.” Gordon cut in as he entered the med bay, stack of training resources under his arm.

Virgil just smiled at the comment, as Gordon dumped the pile on the bed next to Alan. He could remember his own training and it had been rather difficult at times, in more ways than one.

“Everything top shape doc?” Gordon asked.

“Yeah, it’s all as I’d expect but we need the baseline, maybe a little skinny.” Virgil replied.

“Hey guys…” Alan began, “You two didn’t have dad for training and I was just wondering…Scott’s not that harsh right?”

Virgil looked at Gordon next to him. He’d never considered that his training had been different from that of Scott and John. He assumed that Scott had just followed on with how dad had trained him.

“Oh, he can be pretty bad, it’s like a different mode in his mind, turns off concerned brother and in comes bossy commander. I suppose that’s the air force for you.” Gordon replied.

“You know I don’t think that helps Gordon.” Virgil good naturedly berated.

“Well, there’s no use in lying to him, how will that help?”

Virgil shook his head and looked back to an uneasy looking Alan.

“Look Alan, this training will be difficult, takes a lot of hard work and persistence. But you do that, and you’ll do fine.”

Alan’s concerns were not alleviated by his brother’s comments but Gordon made to leave and Virgil had recommenced his medical tests so he kept his issues to himself and glanced over the substantial pile of operational protocol, training manuals, vehicle specifications, launch procedures and numerous others, letting a slight sigh out at the daunting task.

**********************************

“Come on Alan, you’ve got to push harder! You’ve hardly improved all week, you’re lucky I’ve been able to be here as much as I have. I was hoping you’d have got better by now.” Scott berated his young brother who panted for breath next to him.

Alan had been going through physical preparation work for a couple of weeks now and Scott had set him on various drills to assess what condition he was in and advise where he could refocus his efforts. He’d go through the various tasks daily and repeat again the next day.

Alan couldn’t understand what more Scott wanted from him. He’d only been training a couple of weeks and all these exercises were mainly physical, he was only going to be as good as his body would allow. He was hardly gonna lift double the weight of the previous day or run twice as fast.

“Scott…I’m doing the best I can, we’ve been at this all week…I’m exhausted.” Alan reasoned.

Scott was not receptive to Alan’s comments.

“Well you’ll have to do better if you want to join up. There are things expected of us. If we don’t meet those expectations, what happens?”

“People die…” Alan mumbled as he looked to the floor, he didn’t want to deal with the look Scott was giving him.

“Exactly…right, go wash up and get back to studying the manuals Gordon gave you.” Scott finished before making to leave the islands gym.

“But I’m gonna be an astronaut, I don’t understand why I need training this extensively.”

Scott turned at the door, “You’re training to be an International Rescue operative. You train for everything, you prepare for everything, you learn everything. John is up on Thunderbird 5 near constantly, he is still fully prepared to operate every ship. Gordon is our aquanaut, half the time he’s doing ground rescues with Virgil. We are all ready…for…everything! That is the deal Alan. No shortcuts.” He declared finally and vanished out the door.

Alan stayed slumped on the bench he’d lowered himself onto. His whole body ached from the weeks repeated drills. He could handle all the knowledgeable parts; he knew a good deal of protocol from being surrounded by it for years on end and he’d had to get used to launch practices for his illicit sim time. The rest was simply a matter of time, but even that was proceeding slowly, and his bodies fatigue wasn’t helping matters.

He just shook the thoughts from his head. There was no use complaining about it, no getting around the fact he’d have to do this. He’d have to keep trying his best.

****************************

_*Two weeks later*_

“Thunderbird 3 to Tracy Island, mission successful, eta to Earth, 125 minutes.” Scott announced as his hologram appeared.

“Good job Scott, shouldn’t you be relaying this to John?” Virgil questioned as he placed his brush on his easel as he made his way to the couch.

“Oh I’m sure he’s listening…” Scott said with a smirk, “…besides, I wanted to talk to Alan about how he’s doing.”

Virgil let out an inaudible sigh. It was fair to say that Scott had been at tad oppressive in his training regimen with Alan and it hadn’t gone unnoticed by his other brothers either. Unfortunately, they knew little could be done on the matter, Scott was just trying to get the best out of Alan.

Alan looked up from the table he was at and started making his way over. Virgil noticed the slightest strain on Alan’s face when he stood but thought best not to mention it.

“He’s right here, he was just catching up on his schoolwork, y’know, that other thing he has to be doing.” Virgil commented though it didn’t seem to register with Scott. Virgil just shook his head.

“Alan, what times did you get this morning?” Scott pressed without the faintest preamble.

Alan immediately looked to the floor, mumbling incoherently.

“Alan…” Scott warned.

“12:37.5”

“That’s nearly half a minute slower than yesterday!” Scott railed.

“Scott, I…” Alan tried but cut off.

“Did you stop and rest in the middle again? I’ve told you not to do that. You can’t just stop for a break mid rescue, can you? Do I have to put you back to the original drills? If you can’t do these in a reasonable time, how do you think a rescue would go? Urgh, never mind, we’ll talk when I get back.”

Scott’s holo disappeared as quick as it had appeared.

Virgil just sat stunned and still on the other couch to Alan. The sudden silence weighed heavy in the room. He shifted his head to look at Alan who was staring past where the hologram had once floated. He too sat unmoving, his breathing slow. Virgil was started out of his stationary state when he saw Alan quickly whip his finger across his eye before returning to his previous position.

He stood and glided over to Alan before placing himself next to his little brother, wrapping one strong arm around his shoulder. Alan remained in place, his head still upright and staring into the middle distance.

“Virgil…” Alan deadpanned.

Virgil just sat holding him, waiting. Was he simply acknowledging his presence or was there more? Was he questioning what he was doing? After a long pause, Alan began again.

“I…don’t think…I can do this.” He uttered slowly.

“Don’t be ridiculous, you’re working as hard as any of us for this.” Virgil responded.

Another long pause.

“And it isn’t good enough.” His body deflated slowly.

Virgil was aghast. He couldn’t let his little brothers bubble of happiness and positivity he’d carried his whole life be burst by the very thing he had always dreamed of.

“Alan, you listen to me. You are just in a rough patch. All this training is hard, doubly so for someone your age. Not to mention that Scott is going harder on you than he ever did me or Gordon, and you know why that is. Don’t you ever entertain the idea that he thinks you can’t do it. He’s doing it precisely because he believes in you, we all do. He wants you to be the best you can be…and you will be. I’ve seen your progress, yes, it’s slow, of course it is, but you are improving. Scott wouldn’t have moved you on otherwise. Just keep at it, trust me, it is all worth it.”

Alan body rose slightly again, and he slowly nodded his understanding.

This was his dream, he couldn’t give in.

He was a Tracy…


	9. Tracy Blues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uni is finished now, had a break and I should be able to speed up posting again :D

Scott found himself lounged on his bed in a rare moment of peace. Another typically busy day had subsided to a calm tropical evening that Tracy Island was known for. The low sunbathed his room in a deep orange hue, causing him to let his eyes slip closed and contemplate recent events. While he was impressed with Alan’s commitment to the training, his slow progress had been frustrating. He struggled to think of a means to help him improve.

He was disrupted from his thoughts by the beeping of his wrist com.

“Scott, you’re needed in the living room.” John stated before immediately cutting off, leaving no time for discussion.

So much for relaxing, “Typical…” Scott muttered before rising from his bed and getting on his way.

The walk was a short one, but he was well practiced in engaging what Gordon so affectionately dubbed his rescue mode in this time. It was only sensible to be focused when going on mission.

As he closed on his destination, he saw Virgil and Gordon already sat and conversing with John’s hologram in a rather animated fashion, but they all hushed as he arrived.

“What’s the situation John?” Scott began but was met with silence as John shot glances at his younger brothers until Virgil spoke up.

“We need to talk Scott.” He deadpanned but didn’t continue.

“About what? What’s the rescue?” Scott asked awkwardly, not liking the stern expressions all his brothers were carrying.

“There’s no rescue Scott, we need to talk about how you’re training Alan. You’re being overly harsh.” John answered, holding a neutral tone throughout.

Scott’s expression now turned to match his brothers, “What are you talking about? I’m training him for the job, same as I did with you two.” He stated, gesturing at Virgil and Gordon.

“That’s the problem…” Gordon spoke up, “…you can’t train Alan how you trained us.”

“You all wanted me to train Alan, and now you’re telling me I’m not doing it right?” Scott asked incredulously.

A long pause fell upon the conversation as Scott eyed each of his brothers individually before Gordon began again.

“Look Scott, we all know you’re excellent at what you do, me and Virgil wouldn’t be where we are without you but…” he sighed, the words eluding him. Luckily for him, Virgil picked up after him.

“Scott, we’re not saying there should be any shortcuts here. But we told you how Alan looks up to you, you can’t keep berating him all the time. He thinks you don’t believe in him.”

“That’s ridiculous, of course I believe in him.” Scott responded.

“Then perhaps it’s time that you showed him.” John finished.

Scott dropped himself onto the couch and ran a frustrated hand down his face before raising his head to eye his brothers again.

“Do you have any idea how hard all of this is? How much I have to balance everything? Brother… Commander… Guardian, it isn’t easy.” He trailed off.

“We know Scott, and you’re doing great at two of those. Just don’t forget the brother part.” Virgil comforted.

Scott let out a resigned sigh before responding.

“What do you want me to do?”

********************************

The next morning, Alan found himself alone in the kitchen, slowly eating some toast he’d burnt from not concentrating. The house had been eerily still today. He hadn’t seen a single one of his brothers so far which instantly roused his suspicions, it’s not like they were typically a quiet bunch. He put the thoughts out his mind and busied himself thinking of the days arduous schedule.

His reverie was broken when a brother did finally appear, Virgil. He should have expected some follow up given what was said before. Virgil took up the stool next to Alan.

“So…” he began, “…how are you doing?”

“I’m fine Virg, you don’t need to worry about me, it was just a difficult few days.”

Virgil chose to ignore the little name, “Hey, we all worry about you, curse of being the youngest, just nice to know you’re ok. Anyway, I’m not here about that, Gordon wanted to talk to you, wouldn’t tell me why, he’s in the living room.”

“Oh, alright then.”

Both brothers made for the stairs up from the kitchen, making small talk as they travelled the short distance to the living room. When Alan laid eyes on their destination, he found not only Gordon but also Scott talking to John. Alan tried to beat a retreat but found Virgil had placed his arm around his shoulder.

“I thought you were acting weird.” Alan complained.

“Well… I didn’t lie, just didn’t tell the whole truth.” Virgil retorted.

Virgil maneuvered Alan forward and into a seat as the room fell silent at his presence. Scott and John stared at each other a moment. Eventually, Gordon grew impatient at the stalling and pressed Scott.

“Well… Come on.” Gordon said, seemingly somewhat giddy about what was happening.

Scott shifted awkwardly and moved to retrieve a box by the table and brought it towards Alan. Clearing his throat, he spoke up.

“Erm… These are for you.” He stated, trailing off as he handed the box to Alan.

Alan held the box on his lap as he looked around the room to find all his brothers looking on expectantly.

“Is this some sort of belated birthday present?” he asked, bemused as to why his brothers were gawking at him. The lack of response was even more perturbing. It wasn’t wrapped up; it couldn’t be a present. He gingerly lifted the lid and placed it beside him. He reached his hands into the box and lifted the contents out so he could better look. As he held it aloft, the blue fabric unravelled itself, revealing a full IR uniform with red embellishments across it. His mouth fell open, but he wasn’t able to say anything. He just held the uniform before him, running his thumb in circles over the logo/com link. Alan finally tore his eyes from the suit and to his brothers who all just stared back smirking at his mute state.

“Are you recording this John?” Gordon inquired.

“Of course.” Was his quick answer.

Scott made to leave but passed Alan on his way, giving his shoulder a squeeze as he spoke.

“Suit up and meet me in the hanger.”

With that, Scott hurried off, leaving Alan in a bewilderment with his other brothers still staring at him.

“But…wha…how?” Alan spluttered.

“Well, the sim is very good, but it isn’t the real thing. It’s all training.” Virgil replied with a smirk.

“Was this your doing?” Alan asked but got no response.

“You better not keep him waiting Alan.” John warned with his own smile.

Alan’s eyes widened in realisation before he scooped up his new kit and hurried out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This used to be longer but I've broken off half to make an additional chapter for the next one


	10. Test Flight

Alan practically bounded into the far side of the hanger from Scott. His excitement was evident but as he made his way over to Scott, who was fiddling with a console near the base of Thunderbird 3, the sheer magnitude of the occasion begun to erode his excitement, making way for an increasing apprehension at what he was about to do.

He slowed to a walk as he grew nearer, the size of the vehicle he’d soon step aboard dwarfing him, adding further to his nerves. As Alan approached, Scott spoke up.

“Took you awhile, I was thinking you were having second thoughts.” He joked as he turned to meet his youngest brother. He found Alan staring up at the red rocket with a look of awe, but he could tell his apprehension was there just below the surface.

“Hey, are you ok?” said Scott in concern.

“Yeah, I guess. It’s just… Space, you know. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.” replied Alan, still not looking at Scott.

Scott moved forward, placing himself in Alan’s vision and resting both hands on his shoulders.

“I was the same when dad first took me up in Thunderbird 1 but you don’t have to be nervous, you know that Brains over engineers everything he makes. I promise I know what I’m doing, even if I can’t beat you on the sim.”

“I know, I know… but it’s still a big deal.”

Scott just smiled and began ushering Alan in the right direction.

“Come on. Let me show you to your seat.” Scott responded with a smile.

*****************************

Scott climbed up into the vertically oriented seat after he had helped get Alan seated and made triple sure he was strapped in correctly. He took no such precautions for his own belts and made to begin launch preparations.

“Can I run through the launch prep?” Alan queried.

Scott looked over, slightly taken aback by the request.

“How do you know the procedures already?” Scott questioned.

“Well you may think I’m useless at the physical training but I’m far ahead on what you set on the rules and regulation front.” Alan answered with a slight smug satisfaction at his own achievements.

Scott however had been rendered mentally immobile by the initial statement Alan had made, seemingly unbothered by it given his blaise way of phrasing it. Scott simply nodded as his eyes turned downwards in guilt. Alan immediately busied himself with a textbook checklist on the console in front of him. Scott used the silence to gather his thoughts before speaking.

“I don’t think you’re useless.” Scott uttered in a sombre tone.

Alan didn’t look away from his list when he responded.

“Scott, it’s fine… Silo doors.” He finished, nodding at the switch by Scott.

Scott was briefly disarmed by the distraction but quickly pressed on.

“It’s not fine Alan, I know I’ve been hard on you but you’re the furthest thing from useless. I haven’t been the teacher you need; I haven’t encouraged you, motivated you or supported you. I got so caught up in trying to make sure you’d be safe once you’d completed the training that I failed to remember the most important thing.”

Alan finally looked away from his list at Scott’s pause.

“What’s that?” Alan asked quizzically.

“I’m your Brother, and I’m sorry.”

Alan smiled at his brother who still hadn’t raised his head.

“Scott…” Alan began waiting for Scott to meet his eyes. Scott eventually did and Alan smirked and spoke again, “…launch clamps.”

Scott grinned and shook his head at Alan’s antics.

“Sure thing, Captain.” he spoke, flicking another necessary switch.

“Alright, I think we are good to go.” Alan claimed, closing his list.

“Alright then, are you ready?” Scott announced, setting himself in his seat.

“You aren’t going to check I did it right?” Alan asked, a little nervously.

“I trust your work Alan, now, ready?”

Alan looked ahead at the distant sky at the silo exit

“You know that feeling you get right before you jump?” Alan noted absentmindedly.

“Welcome to the job…” Scott chuckled, “…beginning launch sequence.”

Scott set about his task and Alan tried to relax back into his seat, though gravity was doing that for the most part. He found his hands gripping the restraints as he continued to stare at the sky before him.

In an instant, Scott pushed the thrusters to full and everything begun to shake as they ascended away from Tracy island. Despite his own nerves, Alan couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. He tried looking over at Scott but he was quite rightly concentrating at the task in hand, so he was left in solitary contemplation of his own enjoyment.

As they approached the blackness of space, Alan’s smile separated into a look of awe as his mouth fell open. When he did tear his gaze from the scene in front of him to look at Scott again, he was met with his brothers smirk at his reaction.

“I trust you approve.” Scott asked.

Alan simply nodded and turned his gaze to the vast emptiness again.

“You find launch ok? No issues I need to know about?”

“Well it was a little rough but I’m alright.” Alan responded.

“Yeah, you get used to that. Thunderbird 5, do you read me?” Scott continued.

John’s holo appeared almost the moment Scott finished.

“I read you Scott, welcome to space. Who’s your passenger?” John joked.

“Ah, just this kid I’m training, never listens to me though.” Scott jabbed.

“Ha-ha.” Alan deadpanned.

“What can I do for you?” John carried on.

“Can you point me to some empty space where we won’t run into anyone?” asked Scott.

“I thought you weren’t going to do that for weeks.” John accused; eyebrow raised for good measure.

“Well life is full of surprises isn’t it.” Scott retorted.

“Very well, course locked, have fun.” And John was gone as fast as he’d arrived. Alan looked across at his brother perplexed.

“What’s going on? Why are we heading to the middle of nowhere? And this is space, nowhere means nowhere.” Alan asked.

“The GDF’s International convention on extra-terrestrial travel indicates that to operate any spacecraft within 5000 miles of any planetary body in the solar system, you have to be space rated.” Scott explained.

“Yeah, so? You are space rated.” Alan said confused.

“You’re not.” Scott stated as he brought Thunderbird 3 to a stop, released his restraints, and pushed off from his seat.

“What? I don’t…” he trailed off.

“Do you want a go or not?” Scott continued gesturing towards the pilot seat.

Alan’s eyes widened in realisation. He scrambled free from his restraints eagerly and misjudged his lift off as he floated over his destination and drifted into the wall.

“Take it easy.” Scott warned as he settled into the co-pilot seat.

Alan calmed himself as he too sat down and adjusted it to his liking before looking over at Scott for approval.

“Alright, get her up to speed, do a few slight course changes to get used to the feeling.”

Alan actions were much as Scott anticipated, slightly tentative at first but with the increasing confidence he’d expect of him. He didn’t once need any advice on particular controls and made no errors.

“Good, now try bring us back around on ourselves.” He instructed.

Now Scott would have achieved this with a wide (and long) arc, but Scott wasn’t piloting. With a practiced ease, Alan cut the thrusters, flipped the ship end over end to face the opposite direction before maxing the thrusters again, and taking off in an instant.

The move almost left Scott dizzy, an impressive feat in space. Alan looked across inquisitively.

“How was that?” Alan asked, his joy at the experience permeating through his professional façade.

Scott found himself taking moment, blinking a few times.

“Yeah… not bad…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When you realise you've never been on a rocket or in space and you have to describe the feeling :l


	11. A Quiet Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a big delay, explanation at the end...

With Alan’s experience in Thunderbird 3, he found an even greater motivation than he ever thought possible with his training. Scott it seemed had changed too, his hyper critical ways had given way to a more motivational style, due in no small part to seeing Alan’s prowess at the hands of Thunderbird 3. He was however true to his word with the standards he expected with Alan and the training was only increasing in intensity and difficulty.

It was a surprisingly quiet day and all the residents of Tracy Island and everyone was using it to perform some minor housekeeping acts across all of the machines they had at their disposal.

Alan had even been roped into helping Brains load up the space elevator with various supplies and maintenance parts. Alan stretched his sore back as he entered the living room with Brains in tow to inform John of the delivery.

“Thunderbird 5, d...do you read me?” called Brains.

It only took a short moment before John’s reliable holoform appeared.

“Loud and clear, what can I do for you Brains?” replied John, nodding a greeting to the slumped form of Alan sat below him.

“I’ve just sent up a wide variety of p…parts for maintenance on Thunderbird 5.” He began, starting to list off every component that was sent from the list he was now fixated on.

John smiled and gently shook his head at Brains as he got lost in his own world and turned his attention to his slumped brother.

“How are you doing?” John said quietly, doing his best not to disturb Brains’ monologue.

“Oh, I’ve just been doing a lot of work lately. I don’t understand why Brains couldn’t have had Max help lift everything into the elevator.” Alan bemoaned.

“Well Scott said he wanted you to help out however you could with I.R stuff, guess this counts.” John supplied.

“Of course, he did…” Alan sighed, he should have known.

John glanced cautiously back at Brains who continued through his list.

“Were you able to send what I asked for.” He murmured.

“Yeah, of course. I don’t see what the big deal is. I’m sure if you asked Brains he’d allow…” Alan began before John cut him off with strained noises and gestures.

“Brains is very regimented with my diet and it’s a little bland for my taste.” John replied.

Alan began to nod in understanding when an alarm blared out rousing Brains from his list and startling John into action.

“Stray meteor…” John declared, “heading for Thunderbird 5! I need to steer her clear.”

*One minute to impact* sounded the calm voice of the alert system.

“John, you c…can’t manoeuvre Thunderbird 5 with the elevator so extended, you’ll turn it into a gigantic swing ball!” Brains exclaimed.

“I have to do something Brains, I can’t let it wipe out the station!”

Brains poured over the data on the hologram in front of him while the two brothers waited anxiously.

*Thirty seconds*

“It is only a small meteor and it appears to be losing orbit, at this rate of decay it will pass below the station and burn up in the atmosphere, I do program these systems to be cautious.”

“What about the elevator?” John queried.

“Oh dear…” Brains uttered.

*Fifteen seconds*

“But that cables one of the strongest… well… anything there is!” Alan reasoned.

“That meteor is travelling at hundreds of kilometres a second Alan, it will p…pass through like there was nothing there!” explained Brains.

*Three… Two… One…*

John momentarily fell down out of the sight of the hologram as Thunderbird 5 shot upwards, released from the tension of the cable pulling the elevator up. Alan nearly yelled in shock when John rose back up and busied himself with various readouts.

“What about the elevator…” Alan realised.

“The elevator isn’t the issue Alan, its programmed to detach the loose cable and use it’s retro rockets to ease down to a controlled l…landing on the beach for recovery. The problem is the cable.” Brains clarified.

“That’s a lot of cable…” Alan mused.

The cause of John’s fevered action then became clear when the entire islands speaker systems squealed before John’s voice came through with a very clear directive.

“EVERYONE TAKE COVER NOW!!!”

Alan and Brains rushed to the hanger, easily the safest place on the island in such an eventuality, protected by the many layers of rock it was carved into.

Once there, they found the remaining Tracy’s grouped together on a couple of crates at the base of one of Thunderbirds 2’s pods.

“Oh, thank goodness, we were getting worried.” Sounded Grandma Tracy, pushing herself up to pull Alan into an embrace.

“What’s going on?” questioned Scott.

“The space elevator has been detached from Thunderbird 5, there’s kilometres of cable baring down on us.” Brains revealed.

As if on cue, the whistling of the falling cable became audible to all and began to build in volume, announcing its imminent arrival.

“You m…may want to brace yourselves, this may last for a while” announced Brains.

In the instant he finished the initial impact rocked the hanger, but the thunderous noise and vibrations did not cease as the cables length continuously pounded the ground of the island.

“WELL THIS IS FUN!” shouted Gordon over the din of the seemingly never-ending impact.

Scott had never experienced anything like it. He’d endured the aftershocks of earthquakes in disaster zones, but they tended to be quite short, at least compared with this. Nor were they accompanied with the lashing sounds of taught cable or the boom of constant impact.

After a good 5 minutes of the thunderous vibrations, the last of the cable landed, leaving behind a deafening silence as everyone collected their thoughts.

“Everybody good… Grandma?” Virgil asked, the medic in him kicking in.

“I’m fine dear, just need to stop my teeth chattering.” She replied good naturedly.

“To be expected… come on, lets go survey the damage…”

*****************************************************************************

Scott stood in the living room looking over things. They seemed to have escaped any real damages of note. Sure, everything had been vibrated out of recognition. Vases broken, paintings fallen, chairs upturned but better than a giant space cable caving the roof in.

The island at large seemed worse for wear. A great ploom of dirt hung in the air over most of the island, thrown up from the impact. It made for an ugly sight to be sure.

As the family went about clearing up the immediate space, John’s appeared, his concern plain to see.

“Good to see you’re all ok…” he sighed in relief.

“We’re all fine John, what can you tell us from your end?” Scott countered.

“Well the cable doesn’t seem to have damaged any of the islands systems, mostly ended up in the jungle with some on the beach and in the ocean, looks like it wrapped in on itself. Brains, I rerouted the elevator to land outside Thunderbird 2’s launch bay to be safe. There is the small matter of my supplies…” John finished.

“We’ll have to run them up in Thunderbird 3 like the old days until the elevator gets fixed. Any guess on how long Brains.” Scott asked.

“Well… this is an enormous piece of equipment; I can’t manufacture it here. It needs to be done at Tracy Industries. And even then it will take well over a month to make.” Brains replied.

“We can’t keep up with the maintenance cycle with the elevator down.” John reasoned.

“A…Absolutely not,” Brains exclaimed, “Thunderbird 5 is already well behind on maintenance, that’s why I was sending up so much equipment today, not to m…mention the sudden jolt it took from the impact. The maintenance cycle has to continue.”

“Brains, I can’t be doing near daily deliveries to Thunderbird 5, I’m needed for rescues, it could lead to someone’s death.” Reasoned Scott.

Scott’s proclamation left a long pause hanging over the room as all the brothers stopped their organising at the statement.

“Well, if only we had an astronaut in training that needed some flight experience, urgh, what to do…” Gordon jibed.

Scott sighed at the notion and began to turn to his younger brother.

“Gordon, it’s not that sim…” he began, but stopped upon finding the hopeful eyes of his youngest brother before he could make it to Gordon. Alan held Scott’s gaze intently, clearly his excursion in 3 had lit a fire of desire and the prospect of going again made him positively joyous.

Scott let out a long sigh and rubbed his face in exasperation, not believing that he was about to agree to this.

“Fine…” he forced out begrudgingly.

Alan immediately erupted in celebration but was just as quickly curtailed by the call of their grandma.

“Alan, come and help me tidy this kitchen!” she shouted from afar.

He quickly scurried off but made sure to high five Gordon as he passed by, thanking him as he went.

Scott watched the whole exchange but turned his attention to the slight chuckle of Virgil behind him.

“What’s so funny.” He questioned.

“You need to be careful…” Virgil began, affixing a fallen painting of his back to its spot on the wall, “…one of these days, Alan is going to realise that he has you wrapped around his little finger.”

Scott brushed off the mockery and turned to leave the room.

“I’ve got to go make some calls.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all, sorry again for the delay. I had to contend with a certain virus around June/July and this completely slipped my mind. I got reminded a couple weeks ago when I got an email about a friendly kudos <3\. Anyway, I'm back now and I will be completing this as originally planned, one of my pet peeves is when people don't finish their stories on here XD


	12. Call to Action

The very next day, Tracy Island was fraught with action. The dust from the impact had either settled or been blown out to sea and Brains had set an army of his best machines to work, cutting up and removing the obscene amount of cable that had unceremoniously draped itself across the island.

Alan too was busy, suiting up. Brains had transferred all equipment from the packed space elevator to Thunderbird 3’s cargo hold and he was due to make his first run to Thunderbird 5.

Despite Alan’s protests, Scott had been insisting that he should accompany him on his first launch but as ever, he had been pulled away on a rescue in Thunderbird 1 so Alan would be flying solo.

He found himself strapped in tight and double checking he had completed all the launch procedures when John’s holo illuminated the cockpit.

“Alan, everything alright? If you don’t get a move on, I might actually run out of food up here.” He joked.

“I’m just making sure I’ve got all the prep done, I can’t prove Scott’s worrying right or this will be over before its even started.” Alan defended.

“Scott didn’t feel the need to check your procedures.” Offered John.

“Well, I guess I’m not as reckless as Scott yet…” he returned, ghosting his hands over his already completed checks.

“Well, I’ll be waiting for you, see you when you get up here.” John finished before he disappeared leaving Alan to his thoughts.

He knew everything was ready to go, all he’d have to do was throttle up the thrusters. He rested his hand on the control and steeled himself, his hand slowly tightening as his resolve increased until he pushed forward in one swift motion and he was carried away from the island.

*******************************

Alan watched in awe as the planet rotated below him as he went about closing on Thunderbird 5. He could have gone about this somewhat quicker, but he was happy to watch the spectacle before him. He was just making sure to have safe closing speed is all.

Soon enough though, Thunderbird 5 crested the horizon and grew bigger until he had to begin docking procedures.

“I’m on final approach, Thunderbird 5.” Alan stated matter of factly, knowing his brother was waiting for his call.

“Standing by Alan, bring her in nice and easy.” John warned.

Alan deftly manoeuvred Thunderbird 3 to the right alignment and let his now slight closing speed to finish off the docking with the automatic systems locking him in when he made contact.

Alan smiled to himself, letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as he did so. He detached himself from his seat harness and began to float around the cabin, the sensation of weightlessness far from being lost on him.

His enjoyment was soon interrupted by the opening of the airlock by his space bound brother.

“Nicely done, I dare say Scott wouldn’t have been that smooth.” John remarked as he floated through the opening.

“Thanks…” began Alan as he pushed himself over to John. “…it’s…erm…good to see you.”

“We see each other everyday.” Replied John, not catching the nuance of the situation.

“That’s blue you, I haven’t seen you since Christmas!” rebutted Alan, dropping his attempt at being reserved and pulling John into an embrace.

John was slightly taken aback by Alan’s candid response. He never thought that Alan minded his absence given his daily contact with the island. Then again, it was usually business over social calls and Alan didn’t regularly fit into that.

“Well, it’s good to _see_ you too,” John declared, “…what do you say we unload the cargo and then I’ll give you a tour of my humble abode?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Agreed Alan, releasing his grip on his older brother.

“Did you bring my…” John started before Alan cut him off.

“Yes, I brought you a cheeseburger, jeez!”

*****************************

_5 weeks later_

“So… *urgh* when will the elevator be fixed?” questioned a strained Alan.

“A week or… sooo, stop trying to distract me…” John beat back, “…haha, that is how it’s done!” he concluded triumphantly.

Alan ceased his motion and brought his floating form to a stop, catching his breath.

“You know… when you said you wanted me to help you exercise, I didn’t think you’d use it as an excuse to bully me with this dumb game.” Alan berated.

“I’ll have you know zero-g handball is a great invention. And besides, someone has to win. Guess I just have more skill.” John retorted.

“Yeah, nothing at all to do with being 9 years older than me.” Replied Alan, shaking his head.

“Aww come on, you’re getting better. Quick learner like you are with everything else.” John tried.

“I’m sure. Anyway, I best get back down. I don’t think Scott approves of how long I stay up here as it is.” Reasoned Alan.

“If I say you’re being helpful than he can’t really object. Anyway, I’ll get to work on these latest parts, have a good flight.” Finished John, turning the opposite way towards the gravity ring.

Alan returned to Thunderbird 3, another day, another delivery complete. All good, putting aside his humiliating defeat to John… again. As he detached from Thunderbird 5 however, the cabins alarm sounded as it intercepted a distress call on the emergency frequency.

“May day, is anyone out there, This is mining transport 7567, I’m losing orbit, someone please help me!?” came the panicked voice.

Alan quickly sprung into action, blasting towards the stricken vessel.

“Sir, this is International rescue, please stay calm and report status.” Alan announced, the ship in question quickly coming into view.

“Oh god, thank you thank you thank you… two engines are offline and…erm, the final c-can’t sustain orbit.” The man spluttered out.

“I’m right here, I’ve got you, just relax.” Alan calmed as he deployed one grasping arm, ready the attach to the vessel when John’s holo appeared before him.

“Alan, what are you doing?” came the stern voice of John.

“What does it look like, I’m saving someone in danger!” Alan responded.

“Alan, you are not auth…” John began before being interrupted.

“John, I need to concentrate here.” Alan declared, flicking off John’s holo to focus on the task at hand. He quickly got a lock on the ship and shot the magnetic clamp to tether to the ship. John appeared again the instant he had done so.

“ALAN, you are to pull that ship up into a stable orbit and leave it there, orbital patrol will take it from there.” His voice disturbingly firm.

“But John…” Alan began but it was his turn to be interrupted.

“No… Buts…” John stated firmly, “…you will then take Thunderbird 3 back to the island like you’re supposed to.” He finished.

“F.A.B” Alan answered.

He detached from the ship once in a safe orbit despite the still frantic pleas of the pilot and made his way back to the island. The flight back had never felt so quiet as it did today. He couldn’t understand, all he’d done was help someone in trouble.

Once he had landed Thunderbird 3 back down into it’s launch silo, deftly as ever, Alan sat still for just a moment. Just as he released his harness, John appeared once again but said nothing. He just stared right at Alan.

“John… I…” Alan tried but couldn’t quite find the words considering he didn’t know what was wrong here.

Another silence extended between the brothers to the point where it was almost deafening to Alan.

“I’m sorry Alan…” John began, “…but I can’t help you with what’s about to happen.”

Alan stared confused on the cusp of speaking but John vanished again. Alan quickly finished disconnecting from his seat and made his way to the lift down to the hanger floor.

He pondered on John’s words, the sense of foreboding was unmistakeable, yet he couldn’t see what it was for. As he made his way across the hanger however, he most certainly heard what it was for.

There was a loud crash as the doors to the hanger were thrown open and slammed into the wall behind. Footsteps echoed as an approaching figure became closer until the visage of one Scott Tracy rounded a corner and caught sight of the young astronaut.

“ALAN BARTLETT TRACY” Scott boomed, as he strode closer to his unwitting target.

“You know when I said you’ve never made me angry?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> R.I.P Alan XD jk


	13. Repercussions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 13. Unlucky for Alan.

Alan stood motionless in the middle of the hanger. Scott’s scrutinizing glare levelled directly at him. He dare not raise his head to meet his eyes, the unbridled fury in his expression barely contained but still plain to see.

“Well!? What do you have to say for yourself?” Scott asked firmly, his arms gesturing wildly in contrast to his unrelenting stare.

Alan’s mouth suddenly felt extremely dry and his heartbeat had quickened under his brother’s ire. Swallowing awkwardly, he tried to formulate a response but unfortunately for him, his mind was not forthcoming in supplying one.

“I… erm… was just…” He attempted in desperation, doing nothing to sate his brother’s anger.

“You have absolutely no idea do you!?” Scott roiled back.

Alan shrunk back at berating, his flight suit suddenly feeling hot and restrictive as he glanced around, clinging to some hope of retreat. Scott however had chosen the perfect point of ambush. The wide open hanger made any escape a purely speed based endeavour, one that his older brother would easily beat him at.

As such, Alan had to try to stand his ground and offer up some form of explanation that Scott was demanding from him, not that he could produce one that would satisfy whatever he was angry about.

“I don’t understand, I was just saving someone who was in danger. I thought that’s what you expected.” Alan stated, his response gaining some righteous confidence as he finished.

Scott however was not endeared by the statement, nor Alan’s tone.

“Is that what you think? You don’t think there was anything wrong with what you did?”

Alan reeled in his newly found assurance as he wracked his brain for any fault in his actions as he has already tried before he was intercepted by his brother but came up short again.

“I was just saving someone in trouble.” Tried Alan again, substantially meeker than previously.

Scott rubbed a frustrated hand down his face at the response before levelling his eyes down to Alan again.

“What did you make of the ship you dealt with? Didn’t seem to be losing orbit very quickly did it? Almost like it would have taken days to do so.” Scott offered.

Alan briefly considered this comment, realisation dawning on him before trying to respond.

“The pilot was so distressed…” he began but was quickly cut off.

“The pilot was an over-reactive histrionic who will probably be sacked for being so panicky in a perfectly manageable situation. Space is no place for sudden and ill… informed… decisions.” Scott declared deliberately, letting the weight of his words sink in.

Alan felt the words and understood but he didn’t think this could be the source of the anger coming off of Scott. Come to think of it this wasn’t like Scott at all. He’d seen the reaction to his other brothers messing up on actual missions. Scott was always stern but tried to use any incidents as constructive experiences and frequently reassured the party at fault. This was a much deeper anger.

“Is that all?” Dared Alan, feeling out the root cause of the problem.

“All? No! It isn’t...” Scott responded, his hackles rising once more, “…How about disregarding protocol, disobeying orders and breaking the law!”

Alan blinked rapidly as Scott rattled off the accusations, moving to question him but was quickly beaten to the punch before he could do so.

“You’ve done great on your studying so far, so tell me, who dispatches us on rescues?” Scott demanded.

“Whoever is designated on monitor duty at the time of incident.” Alan responded robotically; word perfect from the manuals he was learning.

“Who has final call on plans of action during rescues in progress?” Scott continued.

“The most senior I.R operative active and aware of the rescue in progress.” Alan sullenly replied.

Scott just stared back at Alan, almost disappointed that Alan was able to respond correctly, at least if he didn’t know there was some excuse.

“What do you mean I broke the law?” questioned Alan nervously, the notion he might be a criminal making him somewhat anxious.

“You are not authorised to perform rescues. You are not space rated. None of what you did was legal.” Scott laid out making Alan squirm before he continued on, “Have you any idea how many favours I called in with Colonel Casey so that you were allowed to do this?” The emotion buried beneath his anger finally showing itself as he spoke.

“Why’d you do this?” Alan asked, a layer of guilt joining the already swirling vortex of emotions the present conversation was causing him.

“I did it for you! This and all the training, I did for you. I put my trust in you, your judgement. Trust…” Scott declared before stopping and turning his head to the side, collecting himself before turning back his downcast brother.

“Well… you best believe you are grounded…”

Alan looked up at his brother but could do nothing as he continued to rattle off punishment.

“…you will go over both the protocol and the operations manuals again in their entirety and if you so much as look at that rocket, you are gonna be begging for the training I was giving you at the beginning when I’m through with you.” Scott finished coldly before swiftly turning and marching away from Alan who stood shocked and frozen in place.

****************************************

Scott leaned forward at his father’s desk, resting his hands upon its surface. A golden twilight had settled over the island, but his thoughts were occupied with the conversation he’d had with Alan as well as the one he was now preparing to have. The gentle notes of Virgil on the piano a few metres behind him did little to soothe his erratic thoughts.

Soon enough though, he was torn from said thoughts when John appeared before him.

“Scott, I have Colonel Casey for you.” John supplied, before he linked the holo.

“Good Evening Scott, John has filled me in about the incident.” She began.

“And…” Scott reluctantly inquired.

“I’m not in the business of arresting 14-year olds Scott. Given I’m the only one who knows about this and the GDF has no means of knowing who was flying Thunderbird 3 at the time, I will leave this as an internal matter for you to sort out.”

Scott sagged in his chair and let out a sigh of relief, “You’re too kind Colonel.”

“I think the world owes you more than this many times over. Given my apprehensions about this plan, I consider this a rather minor incident in the grand scheme of things.” Colonel Casey stated.

“Not to me it isn’t.” responded Scott adamantly.

“I’d expect nothing less, you really are your father’s son…” she offered warmly, “…if that’s all boys, I must be getting on. Keep up the good work.”

“Thank you.” Scott finished before the Colonel’s holo faded leaving just John.

Scott stared off into the middle distance as he continued let the relief that Alan would not face any outside punishment wash over him.

“You see, like I said, nothing to worry about.” John directed to Scott.

“It was and still is.” Scott shot back with certainty.

“You don’t think you should back track a bit with Alan, you were a little harsh.” John tried.

Scott eyed John for a moment before standing.

“Just because he’s getting away with it doesn’t mean he didn’t do anything wrong. This changes nothing…” He confidently stated, moving to leave the living room, “…and John, Alan is my responsibility and I’ll decide how he is trained and how he is punished. I know there is no way any of our cams could overhear me in the middle of that hanger…”

John kept his expression neutral as Scott turned his gaze to him as he strode out the room.

“…which means you hacked either my or Alan’s com. Don’t ever spy on me again.” He finished, leaving the room, and letting his comments hang in the air.

John floated silently before casting his vision to the other brother in the room, the melancholy tones long since ceased.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just want to say another thank you for the kudos that keep coming through. Didn't think I'd get such a positive response. I really appreciate it.

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe I'm doing this. I hated English in school. Feel free to let me know what you think


End file.
